The Winter Olympics offer us a great lesson in GIFs--specifically, the power of a well-made GIF to condense much longer-form content into its highest-impact few seconds. Where you've got weeks of serious content and coverage, the GIF has to focus on what brings you the most oomph. Wipeouts.

4chan's worksafe GIF section has been collecting the best of the wipeouts from the 2014 Winter Olympics for the last week. It's an impressive thread. Not only is it emotionally wrenching to see these athletes try so hard and fail, but the wipeouts highlight the magnitude of what they're trying to do. One big crash puts all the perfect runs and tenths-of-a-second into perspective. Here are some of my favorites.

http://boingboing.net/2014/02/18/winter-olympics-wipeout-gifs.html/feed0Sledding down an empty road in Birmingham, ALhttp://boingboing.net/2014/01/30/sledding-down-an-empty-road-in.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/30/sledding-down-an-empty-road-in.html#commentsThu, 30 Jan 2014 17:18:56 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=283997The gentleman in this video claims to hit 30 mph while sledding down Birmingham's Crestwood Boulevard. I have no idea whether or not this is true, but knowing the intersection he's sledding past (I used to live right near there), it would certainly be a hell of a ride down a long stretch of steady grade.]]>

The gentleman in this video claims to hit 30 mph while sledding down Birmingham's Crestwood Boulevard. I have no idea whether or not this is true, but knowing the intersection he's sledding past (I used to live right near there), it would certainly be a hell of a ride down a long stretch of steady grade. Other context that makes this video more fun: Crestwood is (as the "boulevard" implies) a multi-lane, divided small highway that's usually filled with cars going 55 mph in a 40 mph zone. The fact that this man is not hit by a car is a testament to how much the city has been shut down by the recent snow and ice.

Oh, and, finally, all those people going "wooo!" as he passes are standing outside of the neighborhood bar. Natch.

]]>http://boingboing.net/2014/01/30/sledding-down-an-empty-road-in.html/feed0Inside the ice-crusted sea caves of Lake Superiorhttp://boingboing.net/2014/01/21/inside-the-ice-crusted-sea-cav.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/21/inside-the-ice-crusted-sea-cav.html#commentsTue, 21 Jan 2014 22:38:37 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=281817For the first time since 2009, the coastline of Lake Superior has frozen hard enough that people can venture out onto the ice and into the sea caves that line the shore near Wisconsin's Apostle Islands.]]>

For the first time since 2009, the coastline of Lake Superior has frozen hard enough that people can venture out onto the ice and into the sea caves that line the shore near Wisconsin's Apostle Islands. Like the Lake, itself, the sea caves are frozen and covered with sparkling icicles — from dainty needles to thick, massive stalactites.

These are different caves from the ones I went through in a dinghy in the summer a couple of years ago. Those caves were at Devil's Island, about 6 miles from the mainland. The caves you can see in this, and several other videos taken by YouTuber Shannon Kowalski, are right up along the mainland shore, at the base of some steep sandstone cliffs. The cliffs themselves are the remains of a sandy river basin and chains of shallow ponds that dotted the landscape here a billion (yes, with a "b") years ago. The caves are much more recent, forming as waves from Lake Superior slowly erode holes in the sandstone.

Visiting the caves in winter requires at least a 2 mile hike (round trip) on the ice of Lake Superior. Cold temperatures can form thick ice, but wind and waves can break up that ice and make it very unstable. The conditions at the caves can change in less time than it takes to walk there.

You should also check out more of Shannon Kowalski's sea cave videos:
Video 1 — featuring some amazing, feathery ice formations
Video 2 gives you a good idea of how big the interiors of some of these caves can be
Video 3 shows you the shoreline and the cliffs
Video 5 is the one I have embedded at the top of this post, with more great shots of the shoreline
Video 6 looks like a great place to encounter a Wampa

]]>http://boingboing.net/2014/01/21/inside-the-ice-crusted-sea-cav.html/feed0Bundle up and be inspired: Winter cyclists of Minnesotahttp://boingboing.net/2014/01/16/bundle-up-and-be-inspired-win.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/16/bundle-up-and-be-inspired-win.html#commentsThu, 16 Jan 2014 18:54:00 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=2806934000 people ride their bikes as part of a daily commute — year round. (The number doubles for the non-winter months.) At the Pedal Minnesota blog, you can see some of their happy faces. Or, anyway, happy eyes. The rest of their faces tend to be hidden under balaclavas. Like you do.]]>4000 people ride their bikes as part of a daily commute — year round. (The number doubles for the non-winter months.) At the Pedal Minnesota blog, you can see some of their happy faces. Or, anyway, happy eyes. The rest of their faces tend to be hidden under balaclavas. Like you do.
]]>http://boingboing.net/2014/01/16/bundle-up-and-be-inspired-win.html/feed0Coloured ice fortresshttp://boingboing.net/2014/01/14/coloured-ice-fortress.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/14/coloured-ice-fortress.html#commentsTue, 14 Jan 2014 20:00:51 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=279854
Redditor Unspeakablefilth lives in northern Ontario, where December was plenty cold (daytime highs of -25C!). He made the best of an icy situation by freezing blocks of coloured ice in shifts, a new batch every 12 hours, ending up with hundreds of them, which he used to piece together a gorgeous ice-fortress that he opened up to his neighbours.]]>
Redditor Unspeakablefilth lives in northern Ontario, where December was plenty cold (daytime highs of -25C!). He made the best of an icy situation by freezing blocks of coloured ice in shifts, a new batch every 12 hours, ending up with hundreds of them, which he used to piece together a gorgeous ice-fortress that he opened up to his neighbours. The Imgur set does a great job of showing off the build process and the ensuing enjoyment.

http://boingboing.net/2014/01/14/coloured-ice-fortress.html/feed0The cheesy streets of Milwaukeehttp://boingboing.net/2013/12/27/the-cheesy-streets-of-milwauke.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/12/27/the-cheesy-streets-of-milwauke.html#commentsFri, 27 Dec 2013 18:15:11 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=276664Back in September, the city of Milwaukee announced that it would be spreading cheese brine on its streets this winter in a pilot program to see whether the salty liquid could reduce the amount of rock salt necessary to de-ice roads. Now, it looks like the plan is working out well. In fact, there's not even a smell to the streets.]]>Back in September, the city of Milwaukee announced that it would be spreading cheese brine on its streets this winter in a pilot program to see whether the salty liquid could reduce the amount of rock salt necessary to de-ice roads. Now, it looks like the plan is working out well. In fact, there's not even a smell to the streets. ]]>http://boingboing.net/2013/12/27/the-cheesy-streets-of-milwauke.html/feed0What we really feel when we feel "cold"http://boingboing.net/2013/12/06/what-we-really-feel-when-we-fe.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/12/06/what-we-really-feel-when-we-fe.html#commentsFri, 06 Dec 2013 19:27:51 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=272813Temperature is just a measure of jigglyness, says Henry Reich of Minute Physics. Not in the "I don't think you're ready for this jelly" sense, but at the scale of atoms.]]>

Temperature is just a measure of jigglyness, says Henry Reich of Minute Physics. Not in the "I don't think you're ready for this jelly" sense, but at the scale of atoms. And it's this jiggle that can help explain why two things that are, technically, the exact same temperature can feel totally different when we touch them. Great science for a cold day!

My friend Kate Hastings, who took this photo, thinks this egg froze because the hen cracked it slightly.

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This happened in my friend's henhouse this morning.

My friend Kate Hastings, who took this photo, thinks this egg froze because the hen cracked it slightly. But it also looks like the kind of expansion cracking that you can get when eggs freeze and burst their own shells. When the water in the egg white and yolk freezes, it forms a crystalline structure — and that structure isn't very tightly packed. There's lots of space between the molecules, which means that solid ice takes up more space than the liquid it replaced. If the egg freezes solid enough, it's got nowhere left to expand except outside the shell.

Eggshells, as it turns out, are not a great insulator from the cold. Chicken butts are, but chickens also don't always sit on their eggs consistently enough to keep those eggs from freezing.

One side note: You can actually thaw and eat frozen eggs. But you shouldn't thaw and eat an egg like this. That's because the shell is actually a pretty good barrier against bacteria. If a fresh egg — the kind sitting under a hen — has cracked, there's a higher likelihood of bacterial infiltration.

Now, partly, this is a matter of personal opinion. But partly, it's just good science.

Before you spend your weekend outdoors, or take your next chilly commute, let's talk briefly about glittens — and the science that makes them superior hand covering.

There's really two things going on here.

First: Mittens are warmer than gloves.

I spent years feeling like I failed at gloves. Even high-quality Isotoner-type things couldn't keep my fingers warm. At least, not for very long. After 10 or 15 minutes, my fingers would start to go numb and cold. The only way I could keep them comfortable was to slide my fingers out of the finger holes and ball up my hand inside the wide part of the glove. (At which point you become Edward FloppyFingers.)

And there's a very good reason for this. It has to do with the way we get cold.

Everything wants to be the same temperature. Hot things and cold things want to match, rather than be different. At the same time, it takes energetic work to make things hot — whether that's a furnace pumping in your basement, or the sun burning in outer space, or your body metabolizing food. Without those inputs, everything is cold. (Eventually, everything will be cold. Inevitable heat death of the Universe and all that.)

So hot things are special. And when they come into contact with cold things, heat moves from the hot thing to the cold thing, and the hot thing cools down. In fact, the bigger the difference in temperature between the hot thing and the cold thing, the faster the hot thing is going to become cold.

There are several ways that this heat transfer can happen, but when we're talking about your hands and the cold air, we're talking about convection — the transfer of heat between a solid object and a fluid. (My husband, an HVAC engineer, refers to this as, "One of my three favorite kinds of heat transfer.")

Cold air moves over your hands. Your hands and the air try to become the same temperature. Your hands get cold. You can't stop this process, but you can interfere with it, and that's what hand coverings are all about. Insulation — the cloth of the glove or mitten — creates a barrier between your warm hand and the cold air.

It's not a perfect barrier. But now the thing that is most in contact with your hand is closer to the temperature of your hand. With less of a temperature difference, heat transfer slows down.

But there's another factor that affects heat transfer — surface area. The more surface area on the hot thing, the more it comes into contact with the cold thing, the faster it loses heat. Gloves put more surface area in contact with cold air than mittens do. So they won't keep your hands as warm as the same amount of insulation in a mitten will. What's more, gloves force each finger to fend for itself. In a mitten, fingers are in direct contact with other fingers. They can share heat through the solid-object-to-solid-object process of conduction and help keep each other at a relatively stable temperature.

Downside to mittens: You can't use your cellphone, or your house keys, or really anything that requires you to be more dextrous than the average 18-month-old.

Second: Glittens offer more manual dexterity than mittens.

With the science firmly established, we now get into the personal preference portion of this review. From my experience, glittens offer all the warmth of mittens, plus the manual dexterity of gloves. In fact, with their help, I've stood outside in Minneapolis at a bus stop for 30 minutes while playing with my Android phone. I had to switch hands a few times. But, overall, my hands and fingers stayed warmer, longer — even with occasional fingertip exposure to the cold air — than they do when completely covered by gloves.

In mitten mode, my fingers are better protected and they can heat up each other. In glove mode, I can work my phone's screen. It's a win-win situation. And it's all thanks to thermodynamics.

]]>http://boingboing.net/2013/01/19/science-proves-that-you-should.html/feed71The science of flu seasonhttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/the-science-of-flu-season.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/the-science-of-flu-season.html#commentsFri, 18 Jan 2013 17:46:41 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=206543 But why? (Consider this an open thread for all your favorite humidifier recommendations.)]]> But why? (Consider this an open thread for all your favorite humidifier recommendations.) ]]>http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/the-science-of-flu-season.html/feed28Rainbow-colored igloohttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/05/rainbow-colored-igloo.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/01/05/rainbow-colored-igloo.html#commentsSun, 06 Jan 2013 04:00:15 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=204239
This beautiful, rainbow hued igloo was designed by Edmonton's Brigid Burton, who wanted to entertain her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend (an engineer student), visiting from New Zealand over winter break.]]>
This beautiful, rainbow hued igloo was designed by Edmonton's Brigid Burton, who wanted to entertain her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend (an engineer student), visiting from New Zealand over winter break. Burton froze cartons full of colored water and left the boyfriend, Daniel Gray, to do the rest, building the structure out of 500 ice-bricks.

Chalk this up under "Blogs You Ought to be Following". The Tumblr Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics is a great place to find succinct, clear explanations of the forces that make things flow. In particular, they're fantastic at posting explanations behind things you see in YouTube videos, both viral and obscure.

The video above — in which a nice Siberian guy tosses boiling water off his balcony and creates a cloud of snow — has been making the rounds recently. Here's how Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics explains it:

Several effects are going on here. The first thing to understand is how heat is transferred between objects or fluids of differing temperatures. The rate at which heat is transferred depends on the temperature difference between the air and the water; the larger that temperature difference is the faster heat is transferred. However, as that temperature difference decreases, so does the rate of heat transfer. So even though hot water will initially lose heat very quickly to its surroundings, water that is initially cold will still reach equilibrium with the cold air faster. Therefore, all things being equal, hot water does not freeze faster than cold water, as one might suspect from the video.

The key to the hot water’s fast-freeze here is not just the large temperature difference, though. It’s the fact that the water is being tossed ...

Plants and animals have to adapt to live in high latitudes and chilly mountain environments. With animals, we kind of instinctively know what makes a creature cold-weather ready — thick, shaggy fur; big, wide snowshoe paws.

]]>

Plants and animals have to adapt to live in high latitudes and chilly mountain environments. With animals, we kind of instinctively know what makes a creature cold-weather ready — thick, shaggy fur; big, wide snowshoe paws. But what are the features of cold-weather plants? It's one of those really interesting questions that's easy to forget to ask.

At The Olive Tree blog, Tracey Switek has at least one answer. In cold places, you see more plants that grow in little mounded clumps. Of course, plants can't really rely on huddling together to create warmth. So you still have to ask, "Why is it better to grow in a mound when it's cold out?"

The dome-like shape which the cushions tend to take (made possible by an adaptation that makes all the plants in the clump grow upward at the same rate, so no one plant is high above all the others), and the closeness with which those plants grow, makes these clumps perfect heat traps. The temperature on or inside a cushion can be up to 15 °C more than the air temperature above it. The cushions are able to retain heat radiating up from the soil, as well as absorbing heat from the sun (a very dense, large, clump of green can get surprisingly warm on a sunny day at high altitude). Add to that the fact that the wind speed in and around a cushion can be cut by up to 98% from open areas, you have a perfect recipe to prevent heat loss. Many alpine cushion plants also have very hairy leaves, which trap even more heat within. This allows the plants to maintain a relatively stable, warmer than average microclimate that is resistant to sudden changes in weather and temperature outside (such as freezing temperatures at night or sudden storms). Interestingly enough, this stabilizing effect can also be a benefit when it gets too hot out, maintaining lower temperatures against baking sunshine.

]]>http://boingboing.net/2012/12/24/how-plants-stay-warm.html/feed3What to drink this winter — according to Smithsonianhttp://boingboing.net/2012/12/20/what-to-drink-at-christmas-md.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/12/20/what-to-drink-at-christmas-md.html#commentsThu, 20 Dec 2012 15:01:49 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=201321a (Northern-hemispherically biased) list of ideal Christmas/wintertime drinks — along with some cool history about where those drinks come from and how they're made.]]>a (Northern-hemispherically biased) list of ideal Christmas/wintertime drinks — along with some cool history about where those drinks come from and how they're made. For example, Imperial Stout beer was invented in the late 1690s as a way to help delicious English stout beer survive frigidly cold Russian winters. Raise the alcohol content — and bam! — beer fit for a czar. ]]>http://boingboing.net/2012/12/20/what-to-drink-at-christmas-md.html/feed30How snowflakes get their shapeshttp://boingboing.net/2012/12/19/how-snowflakes-get-their-shape.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/12/19/how-snowflakes-get-their-shape.html#commentsWed, 19 Dec 2012 15:25:02 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=201310

Not all snowflakes are unique in their shape. There's one fact for you.

And here's another: The shape of snowflakes — whether individually distinct or mass-production common — is determined by chemistry. Specifically, the shape is a function of the temperatures and meteorological conditions the snowflakes are exposed to as they form and the way those factors affect the growth of ice crystals.

This short video from Bytesize Science will give you a nice overview of snowflake production and will help you understand why some snowflakes are unique, and why others aren't.

]]>http://boingboing.net/2012/12/19/how-snowflakes-get-their-shape.html/feed8Something to keep you warm when it's nippy outhttp://boingboing.net/2012/11/15/something-to-keep-you-warm-whe.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/11/15/something-to-keep-you-warm-whe.html#commentsThu, 15 Nov 2012 19:20:58 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=194399the world's oldest known bra. It dates to the 15th century and was found with a bunch of other clothing, stuffed between the floors of an Austrian castle. Most likely, it was being used for insulation, the same way we might stuff a wall with fiberglass batting today. (Via Christopher Mims)]]>the world's oldest known bra. It dates to the 15th century and was found with a bunch of other clothing, stuffed between the floors of an Austrian castle. Most likely, it was being used for insulation, the same way we might stuff a wall with fiberglass batting today. (Via Christopher Mims)]]>http://boingboing.net/2012/11/15/something-to-keep-you-warm-whe.html/feed10Goodbye "Snowmageddon XIX", hello "Gandolf"http://boingboing.net/2012/10/03/goodbye-snowmageddon-xix.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/10/03/goodbye-snowmageddon-xix.html#commentsWed, 03 Oct 2012 18:18:36 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=185195The Weather Channel has decided to begin naming winter storms the way we already name tropical storms. But while tropical storm nomenclature is an organized and official process, carried out by a branch of the United Nations, winter storms will be named apparently at the whim of The Weather Channel.]]>The Weather Channel has decided to begin naming winter storms the way we already name tropical storms. But while tropical storm nomenclature is an organized and official process, carried out by a branch of the United Nations, winter storms will be named apparently at the whim of The Weather Channel. The result: Not only can we move past calling every blizzard either Snowmageddon or Snowpocalypse, but we also get to hear news anchors discuss the damage caused by Winter Storm Gandolf. (Please note that this is Gandolf, not Gandalf. The former is a character in The Well at the World's End, an 1896 fantasy novel. The latter is probably tied up in intellectual property restrictions.) ]]>http://boingboing.net/2012/10/03/goodbye-snowmageddon-xix.html/feed20Reminder: BoingBoing meetup in Minneapolis on Saturdayhttp://boingboing.net/2012/01/26/reminder-boingboing-meetup-in.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/01/26/reminder-boingboing-meetup-in.html#commentsThu, 26 Jan 2012 15:42:36 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=140720

Emily Lloyd has graciously volunteered her house, across from Powderhorn Park, as the location of the meetup. We'll meet at 3216 10th Ave South at 1:00 — BYOB and a snack to share. Then, at 2:00 (King Boreas willing) we'll cross the street to watch some awesome sledding action!

See you there!

]]>http://boingboing.net/2012/01/26/reminder-boingboing-meetup-in.html/feed6Alaskan town has 176 inches of snow on the groundhttp://boingboing.net/2012/01/13/alaskan-town-has-176-inches-of.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/01/13/alaskan-town-has-176-inches-of.html#commentsFri, 13 Jan 2012 16:44:16 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=138864

Hey, guys, I figured out where all of Minnesota's winter snow went. It's in Cordova, Alaska.

Since Nov. 1, storms have dropped 176 inches of snow and more than 44 inches of rain on the town, about 150 miles southwest of Anchorage.

]]>

Hey, guys, I figured out where all of Minnesota's winter snow went. It's in Cordova, Alaska.

Since Nov. 1, storms have dropped 176 inches of snow and more than 44 inches of rain on the town, about 150 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Temperatures warmed overnight, and residents awoke to standing water because of stopped-up drains. The rain also made the existing snow heavier.

The warmer temperatures - about 35 degrees midday Wednesday - brought another hazard to the Prince William Sound community of 2,200 people: avalanche danger.

There's one road leading out, and it was closed though it could be opened for emergency vehicles.

"We have the National Guard right now using the standard shovel, and they're getting pretty trashed every day - not the shovels but the Guardsmen themselves," he said.

That's from an AP story in the San Francisco Chronicle. Read the whole thing to learn about the intricacies of snow shovel design, and why a standard shovel just ain't enough to deal with 176 inches of snow. Better ones are being airlifted in.

The image above—taken by the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management—gives you an idea of what it's like to dig out of a snow pack like this. I will admit, as much as I realize what a disaster it would be to live in Cordova, Alaska right now, there is a part of me (the part that is approximately 5 years old) that just looks at this photo and thinks, "I will build the most AWESOME fort EVER!"